thoughts on american horror story: i am anne frank (part 2)

“Anne Frank” is really Charlotte Brown, a mother who handled her post-partum psychosis by making herself believe she was the real Anne Frank. She saw a play, tattooed herself and the “Anne Frank” persona was born; so much for a fun twist on history. However, in her diligent (and obsessive) research on all things Nazi-related, she inadvertently stumbled upon a photo of Adolph Hitler with a young Dr. Arden in the background. Before she’s deemed crazy and lobotomized, Sister Jude goes to Mr. Goodman with her evidence in the hopes that he can confirm Arden is really Hans Gruber. Goodman notes that it’s entirely possible since Operation Paperclip brought Nazi scientists to the U.S. and gave them new identities. It all sounds about right and melds with what we’ve seen Arden do thus far. In X-Files, this operation helped create a human-alien hybrid. If that’s the case here, it definitely helps connect things neatly to Kit’s story.

Breaking Habits

Unfortunately, Charlotte Brown’s episode made Sister Jude completely doubt her ability to do the job. When she finds out that Lana is missing, she realizes she’s finished at Briarcliff. Frank, the security guard, only adds to her misery by tossing in his two cents; no matter what Sister Jude does, she will always be a woman and therefore she won’t have their respect. In a moment of serious backsliding, she folds up her habit, slips into something more comfortable, heads to the nearest bar and leaves with the first guy to buy her drink. In the morning, she steal his lighter and sneaks out before he can wake up. Not sure what direction they have in mind for all of this, but it’s safe to assume Goodman will let her know that Arden was indeed a Nazi. It’s unclear if anyone knows she quit her post, so perhaps, she can resume work like nothing happened.

Grace’s Alien Encounter

Although Kit is pardoned from his sterilization appointment, Grace is still scheduled and locked in solitary. Similar to Kit in the first episode, Grace is visited by aliens and taken to some white room (the spaceship perhaps?) where she meets Alma. This is proof that Alma is alive and Kit’s account of the events was strange but true. Alma is pregnant and relatively calm, but that’s all we know about her current state. When Kit sees Grace in the commons room, she’s bloodied in a way that makes it seem like she was sterilized. We’ll have to wait until next week to learn if she made it to her procedure or if all of that was the result of her own alien impregnation.

The Bloody Face Reveal

If you have no idea who Bloody Face is, now is the time to stop reading. [SPOILER ALERT] We learn that Thredson is Bloody Face. He got Kit to confess to the crimes, not so that he’d have peace of mind as a doctor and be able to keep Kit from the electric chair, but so he’d have someone to take the fall for the murders. That part of this plot was perfection. As creepy as I found him after his therapy session with Lana last week, I genuinely believed he had Kit’s best interest in mind. Lana, who was also foolish enough to foil her own escape a few weeks just so Kit wouldn’t be on the loose, let Thredson take her to his home. She tries to call her friend, Thredson stops her. She gets excited about letting everyone know about how horrible Briarcliff truly is, Thredson lets her know she’ll be telling “his story”. She tries to run, Thredson catches her in his workshop, which is where he makes all of his lovely human furniture.

With the floor literally (and figuratively) pulled out from under her, Lana wakes up chained to the floor, Saw-style, in Thredson’s basement. She sees Wendy and Thredson tells her that she needs to kiss Wendy’s frozen body, to continue the therapy of course. Even without the Bloody Face mask this scene would have been disturbing enough, but then he tells her not to worry about Wendy biting, since he’s taken out all of her teeth. I’d like to believe that Lana makes it out of this, outside of Kit, she’s had it the worst in this horror story. However, Thredson only promised that she’d write his story and win a Pulitzer, and she doesn’t have to be kept alive for any of that to happen.

Other Bits

Aliens. Religion. Nazis. Serial killers. This season certainly has a lot going on, but will it be neatly tied up in the end or will all the parts result in multiple, yet equally terrifying, horror stories?

“I don’t work here anymore Frank. As a matter of fact, I never did, you can tell her I said that.” Because Thredson’s house was over-the-top creepy, they really could have done without this line, especially if they wanted the big reveal to have more of a punch.

I almost feel like the way Shelley monstrous looks after all of Arden’s experiments is subtle commentary, almost wagging a finger at women who are promiscuous. I’d say I’m over-thinking it, but then I remember that Murphy has kind of done this before (e.g., The Carver and Kimber on Nip/Tuck).